I added a new link to my links list today... its www.handipoints.com and its an on-line chore chart tool for parents and kids. You can make the charts and either print them or just keep track of them on-line. Kids earn points and you can set up rewards... allowance, toys, donations to charity or whatever you want. They also have an on-line game that kids can play and they can use some of the points they earn to get stuff in the game too. We've used it in the past and have just recently re-started it and I really like it. The kids think its fun and its easier for me to keep up with and maintain than when I just try to constantly print out or make up charts myself. It offers a lot so I encourage you to check it out!
On a personal note, I like being able to have a list of activities and chores for the kids to do after school so that 1) they don't get bored and just want to annoy me and 2) they don't immediately dive for the DS, Wii, or T.V. Also, this puts the responsibility in their hands so I'm not a nag... I can just say ~ Check your handipoints and they can take it from there. Lastly, I like that the lists are totally customizable. We have this new activity that the kid's class at church is sponsoring called "Gems of Goodness" ~ I wanted to find a way to support that project which is about inspiring kids to notice all thing good things they do and to keep a log of them in a special notebook. However, I didn't want it to be a fight, like "YOU write about being good or else!" Using handipoints made it simple, I just added "do something nice for someone else" and "write in your gems of goodness notebook" as two items on the list. Now these activities are just a natural part of the "routine" and the kids like it because they get to earn points toward their allowance/reward and they enjoy these activities.
Okay, so there is my sales pitch... I just realized that they really should pay me for this! lol!
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